Clinching joining system: validation of numerical models

The clinching process, also known as “press joining”, is a mechanical joining technique for
sheet metal. Its basic principle is to clamp together several metal sheets by an impact extrusion between a punch and a die. The joint is formed by a localized cold plastic deformation. Forming is used as a joining method. Within the context of this research, University of Liège is developing numerical models, with the FEM code LAGAMINE, that simulate the clinching process. On the other hand, shear tests on simple joints with one or two clinches were realized and their behaviour is reproduced numerically with LAGAMINE. This work opens the way to the analytical formulation of the behaviour of clinched joints. The article will focus on comparisons between experiments and numerical simulations. First, the identification of model parameters will be explained. Then, the predicted failure modes will be analysed by comparison with the xperiments.